What is wrong with the Homeland Security people who are supposed to look out for our welfare? Recently, a Nigerian managed to board a plane and almost bring it down in flames during the holiday season. The quick thinking of the passengers and airplane staff prevented the unthinkable from happening. Good thing everyone had to board with little bags of miniature toothpaste and shampoo otherwise it could have been much worse, right?
I imagine that the terrorists have gottens ome good laughs over airport antics since
9/11. Instead of profiling very suspect people (we must be politically correct above all!), the people punished are the ones just trying to fly from one place to the next. The more rules and regulations that are put in place for average passengers, the less people want to bother, the flights lose revenue, and who wins? An ongoing, minor victory for the terrorists. They weren't looking for that but propbably don't mind the side benefit of inconveniencing the American people.
In view of the current aborted terrorist attack, flight passengers cannot have anything in their lap an hour before landing and cannot leave their seats for any reason in the last hour. No magazines or books? What about parents traveling with small children who live by the will of their bladder and won't understand why they can't make a quick trip to the restroom when needed? Do the powers that be really think that this will thwart any terrorist who really, really wants to make trouble? Are they going to board and mutter, "Oh, dear! Can't do anything an hour before we land. Guess that puts a stop to my mission." I can see a mass exodus from assigned seating to the restrooms an hour and a HALF before landing causing a lot of commotion.
From what I have read and heard, holding books or makeup kits in laps before landing did not contribute to the current terrorist attempt. It goes back to the security who let a reported terrorist board the plane. It goes back to inadequately screening passengers for information on file that should have prevented them from boarding any plane. Our administration let us down and ordinary people turned heroes saved a lot of people's Christmas.
Yet, in spite of the information of an administration failure, who is getting further punishment for wanting to fly home for an event, go on a vacation, and make a business trip? The American people get punished for the terrorists. I hear more horrer stories from people taking a plane trip than I do about terrorists. Now, you can only take one item on board. If you are a woman and carry a purse, you can't have a carry-on bag. You can't even have gel inserts in your shoes and if you happen to have a pair of shoes that have gel support built in, they will have to be checked thoroughly.
I was in Munich when there was the terrorist murders of the team from Israel. I was traveling with friends, one of whom was Hispanic. Let me tell you, the border guards at each and every country we passed through had absolutely no problem with profiling my friend because of his darker complexion and checking out their photo books against his passport picture, etc. He didn't mind because he respected their efforts in safeguarding their countries. He knew he wasn't a wanted character.
It seems to me that if we want to keep ahead of possible problems, we should take a closer look at people traveling from known countries that harbor terrorists. We shouldn't consider it profiling to stop someone and do a quick check of their documentation. There is a data base of people who shouldn't be allowed on the plane. They should make it their flight Bible. Right now, all I see are people missing planes, limping along to a flight about to take off and not having time to put their shoes back on, and little children getting frisked because the lost the check point 'lottery'.
You think the terrorists don't watch and enjoy making American sweat like this? Their first goal, of course, is physical distruction but I don't think they mind undermining the American way of life and leaving it to our government to inflict it on us, too.
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